Placer County, CA-Department of Agriculture Inspectors are currently
looking for people that apply pesticides in the county, without proper
licensing

Maintenance G=
ardeners
Applying Pesticides:

Placer County Department of Agriculture Inspectors are
currently looking for people that apply pesticides in the county, without
proper licensing.The effort =
will
focus on individuals who perform pest control using pesticides in urban and
residential landscape settings.

State law requires all businesses that apply pesticide=
s,
even those applying weed killers incidental to their primary landscape
gardening tasks, be licensed by the California Department of Pesticide
Regulation.Licensing require=
ments
include having properly qualified and trained applicators familiar with safe
pesticide applications practices, and possessing liability insurance.

“We are seeing more and more maintenance gardene=
rs
applying pesticides without a license,” said Christine Turner,
Agricultural Commissioner.“Our goal in looking for them is to bring them into compliance,
thus protecting the public’s health and safety by insuring pesticides=
are
used safely and legally.”

Through increased field surveillance, inspections, and
community outreach, the Department is seeking to not only inform unlicensed
applicators that what they’re doing is illegal, but also to reach tho=
se
who hire them.

“Homeowners who hire a maintenance gardener to p=
erform
pest control, such as weed spraying, should ask to see the company’s =
pest
control business license or call our office and verify if a company is
licensed,” said Christine Turner.

Anyone seeking licensing information or maintenance
gardeners interested in becoming licensed are encouraged to contact the Cou=
nty
Agricultural Commissioner’s Offices.=
Licensing information is also available online at www.cdpr.ca.gov.

Inspectors will continue to monitor businesses is to e=
nsure
compliance with pesticide laws and regulations in areas such as worker safe=
ty,
general standards of care, and environmental safety.The County Department of Agricultu=
re is
responsible for enforcing state pesticides laws and regulations.Violators may be subject to fines =
of up
to $5,000 per violation.